Mobile Suit Gundam: LEGENDS
by DayDream Jedi
Summary: The heroes, anti-heroes and villains of Gundam have been brought together to battle amongst themselves to prove which is superior. But, is that truly the reason that they are fighting?
1. Prologue

**MOBILE SUIT**

**GUNDAM**

**LEGENDS**

**BOOK ONE:**

**THOSE WHO FIGHT**

**Prologue**

The four figures gathered in the semi-darkness, glowing eyes starring down at the swirls of light and color below them. Images, fleeting in form, of distant wars and giant machines rippled across the whirlpool of light.

_Why do people fight? Even the smallest of skirmishes can erupt into conflicts that ravage entire worlds._

An image formed below of green, mono-eyed mechs fighting against a fleet of space battleships.

_These fought for supposed independence but in reality spread misery and death and perpetuated a warmonger's thirst for power._

Another image came into being, that of numerous city-sized cylinders falling through the atmosphere and impacting on Earth's surface.

_Here the fighting nearly succeeded in wiping out all of humanity._

Another image showed yet another time and place, a massive orbital battle between tens of thousands surrounding a space battleship shaped like a four-pointed star.

_Is humanity destined to destroy itself? Can its conflicts ever create something, rather than destroy?_

This time the swirling light showed a machine that was glowing with power. It was hard to make out where it was, its surroundings possibly even alien in nature.

_Can humanity reform itself?_

They now saw an image of what seemed to be an asteroid being pushed away from the Earth by a greenish, iridescent cloud of light. The image rippled and was replaced by images of several humanoid machines. Although these machines were all of different designs, they all shared one design aesthetic: Each machines face bore a resemblance to ancient armor from Earth's warrior past.

_We will watch the warriors of this tale, to insure that they accomplish their task… in the battles that are to come!_


	2. Mission 1

**Mission 1: The Lost And The Scattered**

Amuro Ray decided he wasn't dead. He based this conclusion on the fact that thinking about trying to decide if he was dead or not would be impossible if he was actually dead so he must then, logically, be alive.

Opening his eyes, which was an effort in and of itself, he found that he was still strapped into the cockpit of Nu Gundam. The systems were down, the 360 degree panoramic view screen blank. Though his body felt completely drained, as if he had just gotten over a bad case of flu, Amuro reached over his right shoulder and pried open a small cover plate, revealing a single red button. He pressed and held the button until he could hear the familiar sounds of Nu Gundam starting itself back up. One by one the various cockpit displays came back online and Amuro was immensely relieved when the screens came back on and he could look around him. What surprised him the most was that he was on Earth! It seemed that Nu Gundam had come to rest back down on the side of a small hill overlooking a green field with mountains and forests visible in the distance.

_How in the world did I end up here?_

He didn't have much more time to think about that as a large explosion rocked the Nu Gundam. Streaks of light flew past the viewscreen and the comm suddenly lit up with confused chatter.

"Hey! Hey you in the Gundam!" a voice crackled through Amuro's headset. Amuro was about respond when a green mono-eyed MS landed right in front of him. Reacting with instinctual speed, Amuro raised the Nu's left arm to bring its shield into place but too late he saw that the shield wasn't fixed to the arm anymore. The green MS swung a glowing, bladed weapon down… which promptly shattered on the Gundarium armor of the Nu's left forearm. Amuro blinked in surprise, finally processing which MS was attacking him. It was a Zaku, a genuine MS-06J Zaku II from the One Year War. What in the world was going on here?

The Zaku pilot, recovering from the loss of his heat hawk, pulled out the Zaku's machine gun. Even though the weapon was utterly useless against Nu Gundam's armor, Amuro didn't feel like having the paint messed up so he activated the thrusters on the Nu and slammed into his opponent, knocking the Zaku to the ground. Amuro pulled out the Nu's large beam saber and promptly sliced off the Zaku's legs and arms then slashed it across the chest just enough to wreck the cockpit some. Just as he pulled back, Amuro felt the familiar flash of Newtype foresight and a distinct pressure coming from the rear. He whipped the Nu Gundam around, but it was a second or two slow under gravity. He saw the mobile suit that was coming for him, an almost antique Marasai and was just beginning to wonder how he was going to get himself out of this one when the Marasai was blasted from above. Amuro looked up and saw another Gundam swooping in. It was colored in the familiar red, white, blue and gold and carried a seemingly older model beam rifle and had large engine pods on its back. The newly arrived Gundam kicked its legs forward and knocked the exploding Marasai away from both of them and touched down in front of the Nu Gundam. A beeping noise caused Amuro to glance at a status pane that had opened up on his monitor. The Gundam in front of him was indeed broadcasting a Federation IFF but was being identified as the RX-78GP01Fb Gundam Zephyranthes Full-Vernian. Amuro frowned; he'd studied different Gundam designs that had come after his long-dead RX-78-2 and the GP01 had been built and used in UC0083, during the Stardust incident. The only reason Amuro even knew about it was because an engineer at Anaheim at had sent him a report at one point. The question now was what was a mobile suit that was an antique compared even to the RX-178 Gundam mk. II doing out here?

"Are you alright?" crackled a voice over Amuro's comm, obviously the pilot of the GP01.

"I'm fine, thanks for the save. Who are you?"

"Ensign Kou Uraki, pilot of Gundam Unit 1." Amuro frowned again; the name Kou Uraki was not familiar.

"I'm Captain Amuro Ray of the Londo Bell taskforce. Do you know where we are?"

"Amuro Ray? THE Amuro Ray? Pilot of the original Gundam?" Kou responded excitedly. Amuro sighed and cut in before things could get out of hand.

"Yes, that one. And I asked you a question Ensign."

"Oh right. Well we seem to be on Earth but I can't get an exact bearing. None of the GPS satellites will respond and the terrain isn't synching up with any of my onboard maps. I was flying around a bit before I ran into you and these other guys started shooting at me. I'll send you what I have."

Amuro's onboard computer beeped as it received the data from Kou. Just as Amuro was about to start analyzing it, a new voice came in over the comm on a general channel.

"This is… warship _Minerva… _in need of… under heavy attack… most of our systems are non-functional… need help… or we'll be overwhelmed! If… friendly forces are nearby…" at that point the transmission began to repeat itself.

"Should we go find them?" asked Kou. Amuro thought about it. It had been a young woman making the call for help and she sounded pretty scared. Plus the transmission source was very close.

"Yeah, let's go help 'em out. We need to figure out what is going on here and it seems like we'll need all the help we can get in that regard."

The two Gundams took off, thrust-jumping over a series of large hills. What was beyond those hills threw them for a slight loop. A large military-looking complex was spread out below them on a grassy plain. Just outside of the complex's perimeter, right below them, was the unidentified warship. It looked like nothing Amuro or Kou had ever seen before but it was clear that it was under attack.

* * *

><p>On the bridge of the <em>Minerva, <em>Captain Talia Gladys was trying to keep order as her crew frantically tried to defend their partially disabled ship.

"There's too many of them Captain!" cried out Meyrin Hawke, the girl who had called out for help earlier, "I don't think the main guns and CIWS can hold them off!"

"Get me Engineering! We need to get off the ground and back in the air!" Talia barked to her second-in-command Arthur Trine.

"Captain! Incoming!" yelled Maliq Yardbirds, the _Minerva's _helmsman. Talia looked over at the forward viewports and saw a Jet Dagger swoop in past the inadequate CIWS fire and pull up in front of the bridge, leveling its beam rifle right at them. Everyone on the bridge gasped. Talia couldn't help but think, _so this is how it ends?_

And then the Jet Dagger was blasted out of the way and a new mobile suit halted in front of the bridge.

"It's Shinn!" cried Meyrin, but her delight faded a bit as the bridge crew realized that while their savior was a Gundam, it wasn't Shinn's Impulse. A comm window opened up on the general channel and the pilot of the new Gundam was revealed to be a young man in a white helmet.

"This is Captain Amuro Ray of Londo Bell. Ensign Uraki and I will assist you."

With that, Amuro flew the Nu Gundam over the _Minerva _and landed in front of some of the attacking Dagger MS.

"This is Captain Amuro Ray to unidentified mobile suits. We ask that you cease this attack until we can determine what is going on here. We all seem to be out of our element here…" he cut off as the Daggers charged at him, beam rifles blazing. Amuro and Kou had no choice but to fire back, destroying many of the Daggers. But as Amuro flew over the _Minerva_ to attack some Daggers that were coming from the rear, he realized that they had a lot more to deal, and they were coming from the complex.

"I wish we could get that ships' big guns to target the attackers, we just had a whole bunch more come out of that base," Amuro said as he drew Nu Gundam's beam saber again and swooped down to engage the new Daggers. Kou followed suit but just as they slashed the first few Daggers in two, their threat boards wailed, indicating a new incoming.

"1 'o clock high!" said Kou. Amuro looked up and saw the silhouette of a mobile suit against the sun and it was… glowing? And then a new voice crackled across the comm.

"Setsuna F. Seiei, intervention commencing."

The mobile suit rocketed downwards with incredible speed, wreathed in a stream of glowing green particles. It leveled a pair of rifles at the attacking Daggers and sprayed particle beams across their ranks, decimating most of the incoming force. The rifles then transformed into blazing beam swords and the 00 Gundam charged into the remaining Daggers, slicing them apart with almost ridiculous ease. Not to be left out, Amuro and Kou charged in as well. Setsuna noted their arrival and regarded them with some surprise.

"Gundams? Are they from Celestial Being?" he said to himself. But his sensors weren't picking up Celestial Being codes and the unidentified Gundams had no GN Drives. He didn't have much more time to think about it, as he had to dice up a few more Daggers.

Thanks to the timely intervention of Setsuna, the attacking Dagger force was completely destroyed and the _Minerva_ was saved. Setsuna landed the 00 in front of Kou and Amuro, beam emitters on his GN Swords deactivated but still held in a ready position.

"What are your Gundams?" he asked the two coldly.

"I'm not sure what you mean," replied Amuro.

"Are you part of Celestial Being?" asked Setsuna. Amuro regarded the strange Gundam carefully. It was like no design he'd ever seen before and he felt a strange pressure from it. It was like he could literally feel the iridescent glow that was flowing from the suit.

"I'm Captain Amuro Ray of the Earth Federation Space Force's Londo Bell taskforce. I've never heard of Celestial Being before and I'd guess by the look of your Gundam that you probably don't know what Londo Bell is either?"

There was a short pause and then Setsuna responded.

"No, I don't."

Amuro was about to reply when he received a transmission from the _Minerva_.

"Just a moment." He opened the transmission window and the face of Captain Gladys appeared on his screen.

"Thank you for your assistance earlier," she said, genuine relief reflected on her face, "But did you say you were from the Earth Alliance?"

Amuro frowned. "No, the Earth _Federation. _I don't know anything about any Earth Alliance."

"It sounds like you might be in the same situation we're in. There is certainly something very strange going on here. I suggest we meet on neutral ground, perhaps that facility nearby?"

Amuro considered it for a moment. While it might be some kind of a trap, this _Minerva_ captain might know something he didn't.

"Very well, we'll meet on the grounds of the facility."

He contacted Kou about it and also sent a note to the pilot of the mysterious glowing Gundam.

* * *

><p>Having parked their Gundams on one knee in front of what looked like some kind of hangar complex inside the facility, Amuro and Kou climbed out of their suits and were able to meet face to face for the first time. Both of them were a little surprised that the mystery pilot had elected to get out of his Gundam and come and meet them. What surprised them even more was when the pilot walked over to a door in the side of the hangar, opened it, made a 'come here' gesture and out stepped a petite young woman in a white dress. She had long brown hair gathered in a ponytail behind her with twin forelocks that framed her face.<p>

"Why is a girl like that in a place like this?" asked Kou. Amuro could only shrug. A mechanical hum and the crunching of tires on concrete announced the arrival of the captain of the _Minerva_ in a jeep-like ground vehicle. It pulled up next to Amuro and Kou and Captain Gladys and her first officer Arthur Trine climbed out. Two of the _Minerva's _marines stayed in the car, but would like jump into action in a moment's notice if needed, if Amuro was any judge.

For their part, Amuro and Kou were slightly dismayed by the appearance of Talia and Arthur, only for the fact that their uniforms didn't look anything like Federation uniforms, nor Zeon or Neo Zeon.

Talia smiled and held out a hand, which Amuro and Kou both shook.

"I apologize, I didn't introduce myself earlier. I am Captain Talia Gladys of the ZAFT Battleship _Minerva_. This is my first officer Arthur Trine." Amuro wondered if that was why this Trine fellow's uniform was black.

"Again, thank you for rescuing our ship. We were investigating a strange signal in space and suddenly we all blacked out and woke up here with a half-functional ship and under attack. We'd probably be dead if it wasn't for you!" said Arthur as he enthusiastically pumped Amuro and Kou's hands. It was at that moment that Setsuna and his female companion finally joined the group. Arthur made to shake his hand as well but Setsuna just fixed him with a cold glare and he backed off abruptly.

"That was great piloting out there," offered Amuro by way of cover, "I didn't catch your name."

"I'm Setsuna F. Seiei, Gundam Meister of Celestial Being," Setsuna said curtly and that seemed to be all he was going to say on the matter.

"And who is your young friend?" asked Talia.

"I don't know. I found her here when I was scouting around just before those mobile suits attacked your ship."

Very conscious of all the eyes that were now upon her, including Setsuna's, the young woman bowed her head slightly and said, "My name is Tiffa. Tiffa Adill."

"Um, excuse me," said Kou, "but did I hear you right when you said that you had been investigating a strange signal in space?"

"Yes we were," replied Talia, "It was like nothing we'd ever seen before, so on the off chance it might be an enemy, we investigated. We suddenly blacked out and found ourselves here, as Arthur said."

"Now that IS strange. The same thing happened to me," said Amuro, relieved to finally hear something that may be useful, "I launched from my ship, blacked out and found myself under attack."

"Same here," said Kou.

"It would seem we at least share this much," said Setsuna, "I was also investigating a strange signal."

"We've come here from different worlds," said Tiffa abruptly in her demure voice. This got everyone's attention.

"What are you talking about?" asked Setsuna sharply.

"No, I think she may be on to something," said Talia, seeing how Tiffa had flinched at Setsuna's tone, "Captain Ray, what is the last date you can remember?"

"It was March 11, Universal Century double-oh ninety-three," Amuro said cautiously.

"0093?" said Kou who was shocked at the pronouncement, "It was November 9, UC0083 last I checked!"

"The 74th year of the Cosmic Era," said Talia calmly, "And you, Tiffa?"

"I don't really know. It's been 15 years since the Space War, I know that much,' she said meekly.

"And you Setsuna?" asked Amuro.

"Twenty-three twelve AD," he replied.

"It would seem that young miss Tiffa is correct. It would certainly explain many things," Talia said.

"But Captain, it's preposterous!" said Arthur almost hysterically, "It sounds like bad science-fiction!"

"Calm down Arthur and think about it. It would explain the differences in dates, uniforms, mobile suits…" Talia tailed off as she looked up at the sunlight glinting off of the Nu, GP01 and 00 Gundams.

"If that's the case, then the question we have to ask," said Amuro carefully, "is how did we get here? And how do we get home?"

"I suggest that while we try to figure that out, we use this facility as a base of operations," said Talia, "We were able to scan some of it and there seems to be room for the _Minerva_ to dock here."

"Ensign Uraki and I should scout the area, see if we can find anyone else and at least get the lay of the land," said Amuro.

"That would be a big help," replied Talia, "We launched some of our suits to investigate the signal, but they all have disappeared."

"I'll go with these two," said Setsuna, gesturing at Amuro and Kou with his helmet.

"Um, what should I do?" asked Tiffa timidly.

"You're not a soldier are you?" asked Talia. Tiffa shook her head in response.

"I was with Garrod before and he pilots a Gundam, like those," Tiffa said, pointing up at the Nu Gundam.

"Well in the meantime, you can stay on the _Minerva_," replied Talia kindly.

"Looks like we've got our work cut out for us," said Amuro, "Hopefully we can figure this all out without too many more unexpected surprises."

* * *

><p>Elsewhere, the aforementioned Garrod Ran opened and stepped through a door, discovering what he thought was a familiar figure on the floor of the dark room he had entered.<p>

"Tiffa!" he cried as he raced to her side and propped her up in his arms. He was unfortunately disappointed when he found that this young woman had short, orange hair and was most definitely not Tiffa.

* * *

><p>In yet another place, Full Frontal of the Sleeves piloted his Sinanju mobile suit over a barren landscape. Crossing a rise, his sensors alerted him to the presence of mobile suits on the ground. They weren't like any mobile suits he had ever seen and were being led by a blue and white suit with a golden crest. They didn't react aggressively, so Frontal landed in front of the crested mobile suit. A communications screen opened up on his viewscreen, revealing a handsome man in a strange uniform.<p>

"Greetings. I am General Treize Kushrenada of OZ. Perhaps you might be able to explain to us what's happening here?"

* * *

><p>The sun blazed down on the desert as the RX-0 Unicorn Gundam trudged across the baking, barren landscape. Inside the cockpit, Banagher Links was troubled. His story was the same as the others, but he was not about to give up in the face of strange events.<p>

"Audrey… I felt you were nearby when I woke up. Please… wait for me."

Suddenly his threat alarm went off. He boosted up over a cliff and to his dismay saw a number of Neo Zeon Geara Dogas headed straight for him.

"I don't have time for this! I'll break through them!" he cried as he punched the Unicorn's thrusters up to full.

* * *

><p>Cagalli Yula Attha had a headache and that kind of ticked her off. She had just woken up, strapped into the cockpit of her Strike Rouge and had just gotten it to turn itself on and what she saw as the viewscreens flickered to life wasn't helping her mood. The Destiny Gundam was standing above her, the Strike Rouge itself laying on it's back unevenly, and it was pointing its beam rifle right at her. The comm crackled and the unwelcome voice of Shinn Asuka assaulted her ears.<p>

"Now this is a surprise. I never imagined I'd just bump into you like this Attha. And completely defenseless too, it seems."

The Destiny's rifle tracked downwards, now aimed squarely at the Rouge's cockpit. Cagalli mentally prepared a blistering retort for the arrogant ZAFT pilot but her headache flared up again and she wearily sank back into the Rouge's pilot seat and gazed tiredly up at the Destiny.

"So, are you going to kill me Shinn?"


	3. Mission 2

**Mission 2: Allies and Enemies**

The Unicorn Gundam was surrounded. The pilot, Banagher Links, was trying to figure out what his best option was when he received a hail from the red, Sinanju-like mobile suit that led the Geara Dogas.

"To the pilot of the unidentified mobile suit. You're tough, I'll give that but you are surrounded. I'd advise you to consider surrender."

_Sounds like Full Frontal, _thought Banagher, _but that isn't the Sinanju. What's going on here?_

The mystery pilot was right however and Banagher wasn't nearly so foolish as to try anything in his current predicament.

"Very well. I surrender, but I'll warn you now, my suit won't be any use to you. Only I can use it."

"Brave words," replied the red pilot, "But why don't you come back to our base and we'll discuss things from there."

Banagher had no choice but to follow.

* * *

><p>A short time later he found, much to his surprise, that they had arrived at a large military-looking installation. Banagher was taken to the hangar area and then ordered to get out of the Unicorn. As soon as he exited, a pair of Neo Zeon guards escorted him to a ready room. It was sparsely furnished and the air had a strange smell to it, something Banagher couldn't quite identify. It was like this base was brand new but people had only just come there.<p>

There were three other people in the room, two men and a woman in addition to four more armed guards. The woman had shoulder-length honey-blond hair and wore a dark red uniform. She and one of the men were sitting next to each other when Banagher was escorted in and they rose to face him. The second man was sitting in a chair to their side and just lazily turned his head in Banagher's direction. Banagher regarded him with a bit of shock; it's not every day you meet someone who has pastel green hair. His outfit was also kind of strange as well.

"So you're the pilot."

Banagher turned to look at the man who had spoken and got another, much more violent shock. The man, dressed in an elaborate but functional red uniform looked like Full Frontal! But this man had much shorter blond hair and seemed to carry himself differently.

"I admit, I want to be surprised but I'm not. Young men seem to have a way of finding themselves in Federation mobile suits," he said evenly.

"Were you… the pilot of that red mobile suit?" asked Banagher cautiously.

"I am."

"And your forces are Neo Zeon right?"

"They are."

Something clicked in Banagher's memory.

"Then you must be… Char Aznable, the Red Comet."

"In the flesh," replied Char. Banagher doubted the statement just a bit as to his knowledge Char Aznable had been dead or missing for nearly three years know. The green-haired man chuckled at this sudden pronouncement.

"You're famous. He's a little star-struck."

"I think the important question here is, what are we going to do with you?" said the woman. Banagher started to tense. He'd been held prisoner by the Neo Zeon once before and had only escaped thanks to Commander Daguza and the Nahel Argama.

"Relax," said Char, "We mean you no harm. In fact, I'm willing to bet that you're in the same predicament that we're in."

"I… don't know what you mean," said Banagher, still unsure of what he should and shouldn't tell this man who claimed to be the legendary Char Aznable.

"Let me enlighten you," said the green-haired man, "You were investigating a strange signal that was likely coming from space. When you went to investigate, you blacked out and suddenly found yourself here. Am I correct?"

Banagher cast a startled glance at the man. That was in fact his very story.

"The same thing happened to myself, Nanai, and our Neo Zeon forces," added Char.

"I am also assuming that you might think that the date is different from what we think it is, correct?"

"It was UC0096, why do you ask?"

"Because I thought it was 2312 AD," replied the man.

"UC0096? That would account for why your mobile suit was unfamiliar. I'm sure you can guess where Nanai and I think we're from?" added Char. Banagher nodded.

"Now that we have all that cleared up, I think we can get to the business of figuring out how to get home. It really doesn't matter where or even _when _we think that is, as long as we can get back there."

Char walked over to Banagher.

"We got off on the wrong foot, but I hope you can understand that we don't need to be enemies here. If we're going to survive this, we need to pool our resources. What do you say?" Char held out a hand. Banagher wasn't sure what to make of all this, but as long as he wasn't a prisoner, he might as well help. Especially if what they said was true.

"All right, I'll help out, but this doesn't mean I'm part of Neo Zeon," said Banagher as he clasped hands with Char, to which Char grinned sardonically.

"I don't believe your mobile suit really matches up with ours in any case."

"Then we should finish exploring this facility. I'll go see what I can get the computers to tell us," the green-haired man said lazily as he strode out of the room.

"Who is that man?" asked Banagher, Char frowned a little.

"He calls himself Ribbons Almark and that's about all I've gotten out of him. If I were you, I'd keep on eye on him, rather than us.

* * *

><p>Elsewhere Garrod Ran helped Minevea Zabi to her feet.<p>

"Sorry if I startled you," he said, "I thought you were a friend of mine."

"It's all right," she replied, brushing dust off of her sleeves.

"The name's Garrod Ran," he said cheerfully, holding out a hand for her to shake.

"I'm… Audrey Burne." Not knowing where she was or what was going on, she had decided to keep using the name she had introduced herself to Banagher with. "Do you know where this place is Garrod?"

"Well, it seems to be Earth but I'm not so sure…" Over the course of the next few minutes, the two of them discovered that their stories were almost identical, with the exception that "Audrey" had been onboard a ship when she blacked out. Garrod also told her what he knew of the installation they were currently in.

"I guess I should take you to our leader… at least I guess that's what he is. When I woke up here, there were already a bunch of us lying around, so we've kinda joined forces. But all I really want to do is find Tiffa."

"Who is that?" asked Audrey.

"She's… a close friend of mine that I have to find."

Garrod led her through several non-descript hallways until they reached what must have been the central control room for this installation. Monitor stations with flat panel displays ringed the rectangular room, which was centered around a large holographic display table. There were four other individuals in the room, a brown-skinned boy dressed in a white button-up shirt, jeans and suspenders (whom Audrey mistook as a girl at first glance), a tall, beautiful woman in a white, red and grey uniform that Audrey didn't recognize, another, violet-haired woman in a dark uniform…

Audrey stiffened as she realized the woman was wearing the uniform of the Titans, the renegade Federation taskforce that had oppressed the space colonies and whom the AEUG had fought against. And the last person in the room was wearing a white uniform and also had violet hair. As he turned to face her, Audrey felt a shock pulse through her as she saw that he was one of the last people she cared to run into in this situation. Paptimus Scirocco, the Man From Jupiter, schemer, mobile suit designer, unearthly powerful Newtype and second leader of the Titans… after he had the first one, Admiral Jamitov Hymem, assassinated. And as far as Audrey/Mineva knew, Paptimus Scirocco was supposed to be dead, killed by Kamille Bidan, pilot of the Zeta Gundam.

"Ah Garrod, I see you've found another guest. And who might you be, young lady?" asked Scirocco, smooth as silk.

"I'm Audrey Burne. Garrod here told me about what happened to all of you. I assume all of our stories are similar?" she asked while trying not to be unnerved by Scirocco locking eyes with her. She'd stared down many powerful people in her time, but she almost got the feeling that Scirocco was trying to read her mind.

"You would be correct miss Burne. I am curious though, where did you come from?" Audrey frowned slightly; she should've expected something like that from Scirocco.

"I'm originally from a colony called Industrial 7," she replied.

"Hmm, then perhaps you're affiliated with Anaheim Electronics? I believe they maintain their technical college there?"

"I was a student there, yes."

"Interesting then, that some of us here are military, some civilian, and at least one a royal."

For a moment Audrey thought he meant her, but then realized he was speaking of someone else and cast a curious glance at the white-haired boy. He grinned back at her sheepishly.

"He doesn't mean me. I'm just pain old Loran Cehack. Queen Dianna is who he means, but she's resting right now, you can meet her later."

"I see," replied Audrey, wondering who exactly this 'Queen Diana' was.

"As I was saying to Captain Ramius here," said Scirocco, "obviously wanting to steer the conversation back on course, "We need to do two things. We need to figure out where we are exactly and we also need to set up patrols. Some of our allies may be out there and there may also be enemies. I hope that everyone with a mobile suit will help out. Captain, I also hope that your ship can help as well?"

"Once we get the Archangel back up and running, we'll see what we can do," the lady captain replied. Audrey could tell that she wasn't completely comfortable with taking orders or "suggestions" from a man like Scirocco and Audrey couldn't blame the elder woman. From everything she'd heard, this man was a master manipulator. She'd have to be very careful here.

"All right! The sooner we get going, the sooner we can find Tiffa!" said Garrod happily as he left the room with Loran and Captain Ramius. Audrey made to go after them but was stopped when Scirocco said, "Miss Audrey, I hope that you too will give us your support," with a hint of smirk.

_Has he figured me out?_

Audrey merely nodded in response and went after the three that had already left. She caught up with them and tapped Garrod on the shoulder.

"Excuse me Garrod, but if you and Loran are going out, could I ask a favor of you?"

"Sure, what's up?"

"While you're out, could you also keep an eye out for a friend of mine? His name is Banagher Links. He's a mobile suit pilot like you."

"Don't worry Audrey, if he's out there, we'll find him!" replied Garrod enthusiastically.

"We'll definitely do our best," added Loran.

"Is this Banagher your boyfriend?" asked Captain Ramius with a knowing smile.

"No! No, he's just a very close friend and if he is out there, I'd like to know that he's okay."

"Great! Let's get going!" said Garrod as he bounded out of the corridor's exterior exit.

* * *

><p>Elsewhere, Treize Kushrenada regarded the masked man in the strange red uniform on his monitor carefully.<p>

"Let me propose a theory to you. Suppose this was not the Earth that we know, nor a colony for that matter."

"A preposterous supposition…" replied Full Frontal, "Yet hard to refute."

"Indeed. I find it hard to believe this is all a coincidence. We're completely isolated and cut off from help here. In that case, I believe it would be beneficial to join forces."

"I'm more used to giving orders than taking them, but I agree, there's no need for us to be enemies. We should try and see if we can find something that will help us."

And so Treize Kushrenada and Full Frontal joined forces.

* * *

><p>Cagalli continued to stare up at the Destiny Gundam, which was pointing its beam rifle down at her un-phase shifted Strike Rouge, not that the PS armor would have helped at this range.<p>

"Are you going to kill me Shinn?"

There was a very pregnant pause as the beam rifle continued to hover over her cockpit.

"No," crackled Shinn's voice finally, "Not like this. Not when you can explain to me what's going on. Last thing I knew, I was in space, I blacked out and now I'm on Earth.

"How would I know, the same thing happened to me!" Cagalli shot back, her temper flaring again.

"What do you mean the same thing?"

"Just like I said! My comrades and I were investigating a strange signal, I blacked out and then woke up with a killer headache and you!"

"You were investigating a strange signal as well?"

"Yes! Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go see if I can find my friends," said Cagalli as she turned on the Rouge's PS armor and started to guide it to its feet.

"Not so fast Attha. You're not going anywhere," said Shinn sternly as he pointed the Destiny's rifle at the Rouge again.

"What? Shinn, what are you playing at? Do you really want to fight here and now?"

"No matter the situation, we're still enemies."

"Enemies? Shinn, I've never been your enemy!"

"ORB is a part of the Alliance and I'm assuming you're technically still the leader of ORB. So yeah Attha, we are enemies."

"Ugh, if I didn't have a headache right now, I'd take you up on it. Okay, listen to me Shinn. What if your friends on the _Minerva_ are here and in the same situation we're in? What if they need your help? Don't you think they're more important than settling this grudge you have with me and our nation?"

"It's your nation, not mine… and I suppose you may have a point. Huh, first smart thing I've heard you say Attha."

"Don't push it."

"Heh, not like that old piece of junk you're piloting would even stand a chance against my Destiny," Shinn shot back with a sneer.

"Just go before we both find out if your shooting is as good as your boasting," Cagalli said irritably as she launched her Rouge away from Shinn.

* * *

><p>When Amuro, Kou and Setsuna returned to the mysterious base after their scouting, they reported that they didn't have much to report. They still weren't sure exactly where they were and no towns, cities or other bases seemed to be nearby. They had run into a patrol of mobile suits that they couldn't identify. They had fired on them and they were forced to destroy them. The one interesting thing they had gotten out of the exchange was that Amuro had determined with his Newtype abilities that the MS weren't being piloted. They were either being operated remotely or had some kind of AI pilot system. On the other hand, the crew of the <em>Minerva<em> had made many more discoveries concerning the installation. Its extensive hangar facilities housed actual mobile suits. Upon examination, it was discovered that these suits had no cockpits. At first they thought that the suits were remotely controlled but it turned out that each suit had an onboard AI control system. The suits could receive general commands from the installation's command center but were capable of fighting on their own. This explained where the enemy suits that Amuro and Kou encountered may have come from.

In addition to these AI mobile suits, the installation also had a factory block that contained all the necessary materials to create more mobile suits. Even more amazing was that the factory was fully automated and could operate without any human workers. The _Minerva's _chief engineer also found plans for multiple types of mobile suits in the factory's computer, some familiar (like Strike Daggers and GINNs) and others utterly alien. Attached to the factory were numerous supply bunkers.

The installation also had a large communications complex, which they didn't fully understand the meaning of yet. All the _Minerva_ engineers could determine was that it was broadcasting something, they just weren't sure what yet.

The entire complex was protected with a well-placed network of beam cannon turrets, missile launchers, CIWS Vulcan guns and mobile suit mines, ensuring that, once activated, the installation was a veritable fortress.

"And it seems to all be controlled primarily from this room," Captain Talia Gladys said, gesturing at the command Center that she, Arthur Trine, Meyrin Hawke, Amuro, Kou, Setsuna, Tiffa and several other _Minerva_ crewmen were gathered in.

"How many mobile suits could this factory block make?" asked Amuro.

"According to our Chief Engineer the supplies here are finite, but depending on the complexity of what you wanted to build, you could make up to a hundred GINNs. Those are a basic mobile suit that our ZAFT forces use," she added.

"Interesting," replied Amuro, crossing his arms thoughtfully. The tech geek in him really wanted to get a look at all this.

"It almost sounds like this was left for us to find, as if someone wants us to fight," said Setsuna, "We should destroy it."

"But what if we need it to defend ourselves?" argued Kou, also eager to see more of the secrets of the installation.

"What about the communications complex?" asked Amuro.

"It's controlled from over there," said Talia, pointing at the consoles in question. During the conversation, Tiffa had wandered over to them and was now examining them closely. Suddenly, she began punching something up on the console.

"Miss Adill, please don't do that," said Talia in alarm, "We don't know yet what all of the equipment…" she tailed off as a burst of static blared over the command center's recessed speakers. A voice could just barely be made out.

"This… please respond! We're under heavy… can't hold out much longer! Please, if anyone can…"

"Meyrin, see if you can get a better signal," said Talia. Meyrin immediately ran over to the console,

"Excuse me Tiffa," she said as she sat down and began examining the unfamiliar layout. After a minute or so, she began pressing button and adjusting a digital dial. The static began to clear and the voice was finally understandable as a woman's voice, high with panic.

"If anyone can hear this, this is Technical Officer Chan Agi of the Earth Federation Forces. I'm pinned down with another mobile suit pilot and we're under heavy attack…" she was cut off as what sounded like an explosion blared over the speakers and the transmission dissolved into static again.

"Chan!" cried Amuro, startled.

"Someone you know Captain?" asked Kou.

"Yes! She helped me build my Gundam." Amuro turned to Talia. "Captain Gladys, I know I really can't ask this of you, but Chan is very important to me. Would it be possible for us to take your ship to where she is, if we can find the source of the transmission?"

Talia appeared deep in thought for a moment, but then nodded at Amuro.

"We need all the help we get I think. And if she's an ally of yours, so much the better." She turned to the Chief Engineer.

"If we leave you here for awhile, can you protect yourselves?"

"This defense grid can be computer controlled, so as long as we make sure it doesn't shoot you down when you come back, once we turn it on, we should be good," he replied.

"Meyrin, can you trace the source of the transmission?" asked Talia.

"I can Captain," she relied.

"Then let's move out."

As the others began to exit the room, Amuro noticed tat Tiffa was hurrying after them.

"Tiffa, how did you know to do that with the computer back there?' asked Amuro. Tiffa didn't meet his eyes but replied, "I can hear the thoughts… the thoughts of this world."

To anyone else this would have sounded cryptic or nonsensical but Amuro knew immediately what she meant.

"Tiffa, are you a Newtype?" he asked.

"They call me that, but I think of myself as just Tiffa." Amuro smiled at her.

"That's not a bad attitude. But don't worry too much about your abilities. If I can, I'll try to help you."

"You mean…?"

"Yes, I'm a Newtype as well."

For the first time, Tiffa met his eyes and Amuro felt the familiar spark of Newtype intuition flash through him.

"I thought so. You remind me of Captain Neate." Amuro had no idea who that was, but he supposed it was a good thing.

"Well then, are sure you want to come along?" Tiffa nodded in reply.

"Garrod might be out there," she said.

"Well then, you better keep up!" Amuro replied jokingly as he sped up to rejoin the others. Tiffa's eyes widened slightly and she hurried after him. For his part, Amuro felt grateful to the young Newtype girl. If it wasn't for her, they might not have known Chan was in danger.

_Chan… please be okay. I'll be there soon!_


End file.
